Book Report Recipe

Book reports have always been a struggle in our home, both when Genius attended public school and now while we homeschool. I wanted to find a format that would make it easier for her to be able to collect her thoughts on the book she needed to report on, and make it fun.

Originally printed in a Scholastic magazine, I found the Book Report Recipe online at The Teacher’s Desk. It goes like this:

1 cup of plot – Tell briefly what the story is about, but don’t give away the ending.

2 teaspoons of character – Who are the main characters? Describe them briefly.

2 tablespoons of excitement – Select a short passage from the book that describes something exciting that happened. Try to find a passage with the main character in it.

Mix thoroughly and bake. When cool, frost with this special icing:

1/2 cup of opinion – What did you like about the book? What didn’t you like? 1 teaspoon of recommendation – Whom do you think would enjoy this book? Why?

Finally sprinkle on the following information:Title of the bookName of the author Name of publisher Number of pagesLiterary genre

Would you like to see how one turns out? Well Genius baked up a book report for you, of two books that she just finished reading:Today I will tell you about the books Landon Snow and the Auctor’s Riddle and Landon Snow and the Shadow of Malus Quidam. The author of both books is R.K. Mortenson and the publisher is Barbour Publishing. Both books are of the juvenile fiction genre and the first book is 223 pages long while the second book is 204 pages long.

The Auctor’s Riddle is about Landon Snow, an eleven year old boy who goes with his family to visit their grandparents in Button Up, Minnesota. An old library sits in the town and Landon is eager to visit. However, Landon’s grandfather has an accident, and while pondering if life is just an accident, Landon finds himself somewhere different. The mysterious series of riddles titled the Auctor’s Riddle guides his path as he searches for the man behind the writings.

The Shadow of Malus Quidam is about Landon’s return to the strange land, called Wonderwood, bringing one of his sisters with him! When Landon finds himself in a tight situation, he team up with his old friends to save his sister and the Odds of Wonderwood from Malus Quidam.

The main character in both books is Landon Snow, the young boy who loves to have a reason for everything. He’s good with words and is a little scared and confused.

I loved the plot the books had, along with the characters, and the way the author used a lot of comedy. However, I didn’t like how the books were rushed to be finished, because I felt like I was missing something.

This book, I believe, would be enjoyed by younger to tween kids (8-12). It appears that because of the age of the characters and the way the book was written that that’s who it should be for.

Here is a section from the Auctor’s Riddle:

“Visions and dreams,” he repeated, and he turned slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the bookshelf gliding slowly and silently away from the wall. The it stopped. An open doorway led to blackness.

Have your children baked up any interesting book reports lately? If so we’d love to hear about the books you’ve read and what kind of reports you all do.

Tammy’s blog is located at Three Different Directions. She has many reviews of different products (many of them homeschool curriculum) there. She is also known to be having a giveaway on occasion! Click the “review” or “giveaway” links at the top of her blog to find them.

Comments

I love this! B isn’t doing book reports this year, but I’ll definitely use this later on! I do have her give me a quick verbal rundown of what’s going on with Junie B. every time she finished a chapter